Stocks hit pause after the Yellen rally

Stocks ended mixed Wednesday, as investors took a breather following a four-day winning streak.

The S&P 500 finished just below the breakeven line, while the Dow also closed in the red, as a slump in shares of Procter & Gamble(PG) weighed on the blue chip index. The company cut its sales and earnings guidance for the year due to the devaluation of emerging market currencies.

The modest moves follow Tuesday's huge rally, sparked by the realization that the Federal Reserve's monetary policy is unlikely to change much under new Fed chair Janet Yellen.

In testimony before the House, Yellen said the Fed will continue reducing its stimulus as the economy gradually improves. She added that recent emerging market turmoil posed no real risk to the economic outlook for the United States.

"Janet Yellen managed both to make it clear that the Fed intends to stick to its current path of gradually slowing the pace of bond-buying, and to sound suitably dovish about the outlook for wages, inflation, and monetary policy overall," wrote Kit Juckes of Societe Generale, in a report.

Concerns about emerging markets have also begin to fade a bit thanks to surprisingly robust January trade data from China.

On the corporate front, Cisco(CSCO) was in focus as investors anticipated the company's quarterly earnings. After the bell, Cisco reported profits and sales that were slightly higher than Wall Street's expectations, and also raised its quarterly dividend.

Leading up to the earnings release, Cisco shares finished the day slightly higher after being the only Dow component to end in the red Tuesday, despite the market's broad rally. The stock was flat in early trading after hours. Shares are likely to move more dramatically once CEO John Chambers offers guidance during the company's conference call.

Some traders on StockTwits warned that Wednesday's gains may be unwarranted, as the company was expected to report a drop in earnings and revenue.

But StockTwits user sh34 thought that any bad news was already priced into the stock.

"$CSCO Earnings expectations are so low that any good news could be a pop...Bullish," he said.

Cisco: Tons of cash, little growth

In other earnings news after the bell, Whole Foods(WFM) shares fell after the company reported earnings and sales that missed forecasts and lowered its outlook.

Amazon(AMZN) shares ended sharply lower after UBS downgraded the stock to "neutral" from "buy." The online retailer also announced that it would hire 2,500 full-time workers at its fulfillment centers, in addition to the 20,000 that it hired last year. Amazon was the second-worst performer in CNNMoney's Tech 30 index.

The reaction among traders was mixed. Some predicted that Amazon, currently trading around $350, is headed even lower.

"$AMZN Blood is on the floor and everyone is smelling it," said Sammm1777. "Next stop $325?? Bearish."

But others wondered if the pullback makes Amazon a good buy.

"I've been wanting to own $AMZN for quite some time and am looking for a good entrance point," said websShawn. "Should I get aboard now or wait for lower lows?"